Throwback Thursday: Dragon Tattoo

This one goes back to the summer of 2001 when I was successfully freelancing (until 9-11 changed everything.)

I got word that a local tattoo shop near my home was looking for a large detailed flying dragon for his client's entire backside. The tattoo artist only wanted line work, but it needed to be made to scale to fit the gentleman's entire back.

GIF scan of the top portion of a pencil sketch made for a tattoo created circa summer of 2001

The instructions were to create a dragon with huge wings hovering over flames. I had to do the design on two sheets of paper to fit the dimensions needed. I remember wanting to scan a copy of the work to keep on record, but I had a hard time trying to scan such a huge image back then.
Now, I only have this small GIF scan of the top half; I've no idea why the bottom half isn't in the same folder.

I never got to see the finished tattoo -- but when I got paid, the tattoo artist gave me back the original artwork, which I quickly archived into my portfolio. Unfortunately, a few years later, that entire portfolio was lost when I applied for a job with Fisher-Price. They insisted that I send my portfolio to their New York office and then they lost it several weeks later. They claimed they never received the portfolio, even though someone signed for it when it was delivered. ( Yes Fisher-Price, I still remember how unprofessional that whole portfolio fiasco was . . . )

Perhaps I'll find that bottom half one day. But I learned my lesson that year:
If you like an original piece of work, NEVER mail it out in a portfolio.

Daily Quick Sketch: Happy Monkey Cheese Day

I created this sketch over the Holiday break. Pretty much just doodling.
I thought back to my childhood, a time when silly words and phrases could really make me burst out in laughter. Silly names and phrases always got my attention and it is probably the key reason why "The Phantom Tollbooth" remains my all-time favorite children's book.

There is an art to making silly names, words and sayings; it can not simply be gibberish.
A good silly name needs rhythm. It needs to be colorful and playful. But the most important element . . . it needs to make you stop, think and imagine. That's what weird, creative and strange things do -- they make us stop, think and imagine. The funnier the words are, the longer they stay with us.

"Monkey Cheese" was pencilled then colored with Copic alcohol markers . . .
and "No", I wasn't drinking the markers' alcohol when creating this image!

"Monkey Cheese" is a phrase that always made me laugh as a kid. It made no sense. It's also something I thought only I created, but if you googled that phrase today -- apparently many similar like minds have thought of the same saying.

So this is my visual image of Monkey Cheese. Does it make sense? No.
Doesn't have to . . . but having created this little sketch did bring a smile to my face.
NOTE: The Urban Dictionary even defines "Monkey Cheese" as: " Term often used to describe a random, pointless act or outburst. Commonly used in an attempt to draw hilarity where none is found. "

Happy Monkey Cheese Day everyone . . . 

Daily Quick Sketch: Skull-Belly

This image was highly influenced by the animated TV show Adventure Time. I've been a fan of the show since it first started 7 years ago. There's something about the stories, characters and style of the show's design that seems to really work. Its so original, yet it borrows so much from all genres. While it may have an overall cute and friendly appearance . . . the show is very deep on a dark and philosophical level.

Skull-Belly is a character I created that was highly influenced by the animated TV show, Adventure Time

While watching a recent episode of Adventure Time, I thought of this yeti-like creature.
Creating his name was simple, since his chest+stomach area looks like a skull. He's a very dangerous creature, but Skull-Belly turns docile when holding a red helium balloon. So every day, someone is in charge of exchanging a fresh new helium balloon in order to have the creature remain peaceful. Of course, one day the helium runs out . . . that's when Adventure Time begins!

Daily Sketches: Sweet Tooth Reaper and Post Inktober Comments

Well, I wasn't able to complete the entire month of Inktober. This is the most stressful and demanding time of the year in my line of work. I actually worked several 18+ hour days to reach deadlines. It's mentally and physically exhausting, especially when considering that the same similar holiday designs are needed over and over each year.

In times of a better economy, designers can experiment more, take risks and do ideas never seen before. But it's the opposite in our current poor economy. Retail store buyers want the same price and quality products as their previous years - while the manufacturers face inflation to materials, labor, safety regulations and shipping costs. As a designer, I must help create sensible high-quality designed items that don't cost more to create.

Anyway, my job took over all of my spare time and pretty much burnt me out. I have many doodles and sketches that could have worked for Inktober, but for legal reasons I can not share those on the blog. But there are a few loose images that were not used for my job. I will throw a few of these sketches up on the blog as I get the time; like the one seen below. Many of these are related to Halloween given that it was around that time when they were created.

This image was created using pencils and Copic markers with light highlight Gelly Roll pen

#INKtober 2015 No.18: Lone Ranger VS. The Wolfman

The 18th image for this year's INKtober is my childhood memory of The Lone Ranger.
Maybe it was just a coincidence that I found out around the same time that: #1.) The Wolfman could be killed with a silver bullet, and #2.) The Lone Ranger used only silver bullets.
I guess in my head I thought, "Why would the Lone Ranger use such bullets unless he intended to hunt down the Wolfman?"

Inktober image #18: inked with a pen brush and toned in Photoshop

Funny though, the recent Lone Ranger movie starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, originally had the Ranger fighting werewolves in the script. Those werewolves were eventually replaced with train fights. Knowing how the movie flopped, I'm guessing the movie would have been more successful if those original werewolves were included!

The inked version of the drawing, sans type and tones

Original Pencil Sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.15: Pumpkin Head

For Inktober image #15, I wanted to do something a little different.
I wanted to demonstrate how the meaning of words can be altered by associating them with an image. In this case, the lyrics from a popular Christmas song, which in my opinion always had a creepy vibe.

So the next time you hear that Christmas song, maybe you'll remember this little experiment -- and hopefully I haven't ruined that song for you . . . (snicker).

The original image sans words.
Inked with a SB brush pen on toned paper and colored with markers and highlighted with a white opaque pen.

The original pencil sketch

#INKtober 2015 No.14: Godzilla OOPS!

Continuing with this year INKtober images and my childhood thoughts about monsters.
I LOVED giant monsters! I can still remember rushing home after school with my best friend Joe to watch the 4:30 movie on ABC (Channel 7.)
Several times a year, Channel 7 would run Monster Week. Sometimes it was the classic Universal Pictures monster movies like The Mummy or Frankenstein -- but the best was Giant Monsters week!

One thing that confused us as kids was why in some movies Godzilla was good and in others he was bad. In the original Godzilla movie - he's bad. In Destroy All Monsters - he's good. In King Kong vs. Godzilla - he's bad. Godzilla vs. Ghidorah - he's good. So confusing . . . 

So my friend and I came to a conclusion that Godzilla is never bad, he's just misunderstood. His size is threatening and causes damage, so the military has to step in. If Godzilla just stayed home on Monster Island, none of this conflict would have ever happened. So he is basically guilty of having a curiosity that has made him wander -- which got him into a whole lot of trouble.

One last note: If you haven't heard -- there is a re-make of King Kong vs. Godzilla in the works and set for 2020. I'm not a fan of re-makes . . . But I have to admit that is something I would like to see.